Thursday, 10 November 2011

Vegan nutella fudge for eat.drink.picnic

Bloggers picnics! Expect the unexpected! I procrastinated about making soy condensed milk and nutella fudge until the night before. Unexpectedly it worked. The problem was at the picnic where half the fudge fell into a bowl of caesar salad. Yet I refused to throw it out. Cindy validated my stubbornness. She said it tasted excellent even with a dab of mayo. Now that is some fudge!

When I had decided to try out soy condensed milk, that was a challenge. I wasn't sure how I would go. A simple recipe was needed to test it. Many years ago I made an amazing fudge with condensed milk, chocolate and maybe some butter. This fudge was surpassed earlier this year when I made nutella fudge. I decided that a jar of hazelnut butter from the Vic Market would turn this chocolate fudge into a gluten free vegan fudge. Easy.

It was not quite as smooth as my previous version but equally delicious. After I made the fudge, I looked at the ingredients in nutella. I was shocked to discover that not only is the first (and hence biggest) ingredient sugar but that hazelnuts make up only 13% of the ingredients. I could have possibly made some vegan nutella to use if I had had time, or added extra vegan butter and sugar. However, as I didn't, the sugar in the fudge was far less sweet than in my other nutella fudge. I liked the slightly bitter edge and slight crunch in this creamy rich fudge.

My other contribution was this vegan queso dip (see below photo) that I am very fond of. The only changes I made were to use rice flakes rather than oat flakes and to add an extra tablespoon of white miso. It seemed lovely until I arrived at the Edinburgh Gardens for the eat.drink.picnic and dropped the tub of dip in a plastic bag. The lid fell off and about half the dip spilt. Such a terrible waste. I cleaned up the rest that remained so that we were able to enjoy some of it. I also took some vegie sticks and rice crackers.

Eat.Drink.Picnic was organised by AOF of Confessions of a Food Nazi as an alternative to the Eat.Drink.Blog Conference in Sydney this weekend. No fancy presentations here. Just some food bloggers in the park. Rugs thrown on the grass. A fine spread of good food. Thirty degrees celcius of sunshine. Perfect in the shade. Even a lack of cups and bowls or some fudge in a bowl of salad couldn't spoil the good feelings.

Blogger potlucks are a chance to taste amazing food - some that I have already read about and others that I look forward to being posted. We started with AOF's Cauliflower Hummus, K's Red Pepper and Basil Dip, Michael's Caesar Salad with amazing GF bread croutons and Cindy's Asparagus with Walnut Dressing. Kenny arrived with Courgette Fritters (check out his lovely photos) and Carla brought along her Lentil Walnut Pate with Tofu Sour Cream and Risotto Balls. But by the time Ed's beetroot, walnut and feta salad came along, I was onto sweet food.

Finally, Claire brought along seafood that didn't interest me, but the music on her little stereo sparked some conversation about 1980s New Zealand music. Ironically this got me to dig out my Straightjacket Fits CD to listen to while we ate leftover dip, crackers and crudites that evening. It took me full circle to remember living in a student household where my housemates talked about an AOF who had moved out shortly before me. If you had told me that I would be sharing a picnic with her many years later I wouldn't have believed it. But I am glad I did.

Gently melt and mix all ingredients in a saucepan on the stovetop. I found it quite a stodgy mixture. Spread into a lined 20cm square tin. Cool to room temperature and chill in the fridge. Cut into small squares. Store in the fridge for at least a week.

15 comments:

Sounds like a fun picnic. :) I've always wanted to try vegan queso dip but I'm not sure I'd like all the nutritional yeast in it. Great idea to use hazelnut butter instead of nutella. I can't believe the commercials for nutella try to show it as a healthy choice with lots of skim milk and hazelnuts.

1980s New Zealand music? ha ha - I'm more your Larry's Rebels, Lee Grant, Maria Dallas, The Avengers, Blerta, Rough Justice kinda guy! Though I was around to be part of the genesis of the Flying Nun thing courtesy of Toy Love.

Thanks Ashley - I find nutritional yeast too strong by itself but when balanced with other flavours (like lemon juice, white miso or tahini) I quite liked it. It is so easy to get sucked in by the nutella marketing but it doesn't seem based on fact!

Thanks Lorraine - some things are easier to veganify or veganise than others - and some things are more satisfying than others too

Thanks Lisa - you can't go wrong with chocolate

Thanks Cindy - chasing the shade with a challenge and made it hard to keep food from getting in the sun but at least when the fudge got warm it still tasted good.

Thanks Anh - very kind

Thanks Maggie - hope you enjoy the fudge - it is wonderful

Thanks Kari - I think the higher hazelnuts and lower sugar altered the fudge considerably but all for the better

Thanks Em - it really is amazing - hope you enjoy

Thanks Hannah - I know you would love this - esp given that I got the fudge from you in the first place

Thanks Mel - mayo and fudge is a great combination :-) maybe you will come along to another of these potlucks

Thanks Jacqueline - I am fine with this fudge as vegan or unvegan, given that I have tried it both ways and if you have the ingredients on hand what is stopping you!

Thanks Kenny - I was a fan of flying nun but don't know the ones you are referring to - will have to look out for them

Thanks Ricki - blogger picnics are great - esp now that the weather is warming up (mostly - still rained on and off today)

Thanks Choclette - I am glad I have blogging for foodie discussions - though fortunately I have a few around who will indulge in offline food talks with me

Thanks for dropping by. I love hearing from you. Please share your thoughts and questions. Annoyingly the spammers are bombarding me so I have turned on the pesky captcha code (refresh to find an easy one if you don't like the first one)

Search this Blog

About Me

Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.